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1/3 Scale 1913 Eastbourne Monoplane

Golden Age, Vintage & Antique RCWant to discuss some of those from the golden age, vintage rc planes or even an old classic antique vintage rc planes, radios, engines, etc? This is the place for you. Enjoy!

I recently purchased this 1/3 scale 1913 Eastbourne Monoplane at a local auction. Built by the late Dick Parshall, it was flown many years ago with a gas engine. The wingspan is 109" and the length about 66".

I plan to convert this lovely historic model to electric power so I am looking for options on dummy radial cylinders to cover my outrunner motor. I would also like to finish the cockpit as it currently has nothing so I am open to suggestions. I have only found a few photos of the full-scale Eastbourne Monoplane and the cockpit of the full scale Blackburn 1912 Monoplane but I don't know the difference between the two designs.

Nice looking plane. I always liked that plane sense there was a .049 freeflight one in Model Aviation. Got some of those new fanggled things called ailerons. I know it is suppose to have a 3 cyl radial.

Yeah, the Eastbourne used a 35hp Anzani three-cylinder air-cooled fan-type radial engine like the one below. It was also used in one of the Bleriot variants. If I could find some similar looking dummy cylinders, I could house my AXI outrunner in a PVC tube or end cap.

I have a couple 26" props that the motor could spin so it would be close to 1/3 scale.

I took a few more photos since I needed to tip it on end to reinstall the elevator servo. The builder did an excellent job recreating the Eastbourne. Not only does it have authentic gear shocking but the tail dragger has it too!

When I tested the control surfaces, the ailerons had built-in differential. The ailerons also slightly drooped (like flaps) so that the air pushed them straight out when flying.

Thanks for the link. I checked it out but didn't see anything for 1/3 scale.

I did find some cool spoked wheels for sale that I bought. They are hand-built Arizona hand-laced silver-soldered spoked wheels. The 6-1/2" diameter is an exact replacement for the wheels I have on mine. They will make a nice scale upgrade.

Although I could not find any text to determine the prop length, I was able to estimate it from the scale drawings. Since the track was 5', the full scale prop looks to be about 7.1' or 85". The 1/3-scale prop would then measure 28". I can handle a 26" prop so that will be close.

I found I cool site in Wales for real-looking pilots. [link=http://www.thepilotpeople.co.uk/products.htm]A H Design[/link], also known as The Pilot People, seems to have some unique 1/3 scale pilots for a very reasonable price.

I am looking to order the WWI full pilot figure on the left. If I understand the currency exchange the cost is 38 pounds (including shipping) which equals $60 U.S. dollars. It seems like a great deal!

Thanks for the heads-up. I e-mailed them last night and was surprised to see a response from Sandra this morning. She said everything is still available but the wait time is 14 weeks instead of 12 weeks. I ordered the pilot because the time wasn't a problem and the price for a hand-made 1/3-scale full-figure WWI pilot is fantastic! You can't buy anything like that in the U.S. these days.

I started to design my mount for the big AXI motor. You can see my scheme here to hide the motor with PCV pipe, which will also act as a base for my 3 cylinders. I used three 1/4-20 T-nuts behind the firewall to start the mount. Everything else is built out from that point.

I'll make a plate to cover the front of the PVC and just allow the motor to spin without touching. The power requirements for the Eastbourne are so low compared to my 3000 watt capability that no motor cooling is needed. The 5330 motor was chosen to spin the 26" prop on probably an 8s LiPo pack.

Xoar has a new [link=http://www.xoarintl.com/props/model-airplane/PJWWI-Scimitar-light.html]PJWWI[/link] Scimitar War Bird Series of props. I am trying to get a 26x10 size. Great Planes doesn't have them yet so I will try a direct approach. This old-world wood prop would look really nice on the Eastbourne!

I contacted Xoar from their [link=http://www.xoarintl.com/contactUs/form.html]Web[/link] site and they were happy to provide the prop directly. It looks like the new WWI Xoar props come in several colors so I ordered both at the 26x10 size. Hopefully, Great Planes will pick up this new series from Xoar.

Although the darker color may be more scale, the lighter color will look great in the air! I'll post some better photos when they arrive.

Looking at the drawings in post #8, the 1/3-scale cylinder size will be similar to a can of soda. I found a drawing, quarter-scale, and full-scale images of the Anzani Y-radial engine to use as examples. The last image is the original Anzani Y-engine mounted in the 1910 [link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deperdussin]Deperdussin[/link] monoplane.

My wheels arrived today and I couldn't help trying one on the Eastbourne. They fit perfectly!

The wheels were beautifully built by Tom Mecozzi in Santa Carita, California. I am not sure what his original application was for these wheels but they sure made a great scale upgrade to my Eastbourne monoplane.

While I was focused on the gear mains, I also applied a new coat of Minwax Polyurethane to the bare wood slats.

I created a 1/3-scale version of the Anzani radial engine drawing as a template and printed it out full size. The result confirms that this is indeed a good size to make the dummy cylinders.

The initial plan is to replicate them from PVC. We'll try making one and see what the weight turns out to be. A 1-1/2 pipe surrounded by sliced up coupler sections for rings is close to the desired size.

In order to have as much weight as possible in the nose, I mounted four 4s 4AH packs right behind the firewall. In this manner, the 4lb 8s2p 8AH super pack can provide as much balance as possible to replace the heavier 3-cylinder radial engine.

My Eastbourne was missing a few hatches so I made the first one out of aircraft grade plywood. The 8-32 screws will be replaced with nylon thumbscrews soon. They are offset a bit because I used existing holes in the model.

I found some better photos of the Anzani Y-radial engine at various angles. We will likely try a different approach to creating the dummy cylinders. My friend, Lynn Bowerman, will make the cylinder base from wet-wrapped balsa around a PVC pipe which is then hardened by Minwax Polyurethane. The cooling fins will be made from custom cut CDs which will include the side holes for the cylinder bolts. We'll see how things turn out.

My Xoar Scimitar props arrived today and they are as beautiful as the manufacturer's photos. The Xoar props are both 26x10 and the grey APC prop is a 26x15. The lower prop looks larger due to the camera angle.

To arm giant scale planes safely, I have used battery cut-off switches on previous projects like this one from Flaming River Industries called, "The Switch". Although this version is more expensive than the ones from Harbor Freight, it does have a nice mounting plate that allowed me to easily adapt it (with a hammer) for the correct angle to be a steering wheel base.

I then modified the red arming key, using various items like a 3" key ring, servo arm, fuel and brass tubing, to become the steering wheel and column. The steering wheel was then spray painted and wrapped in a black leather strip from Michaels. In this manner, the Eastbourne can be safely and easily armed for flight while retaining a scale look in the cockpit.

I soldered a 100ohm, 1 watt resistor to one side of a momentary pushbutton switch. The resistor and switch (275-0618) were purchased at Radio Shack and provide an anti-spark mechanism when arming the power system. The procedure is to press the pushbutton and then arm the main switch about a second later. Although my 8s power system doesn't have much spark when compared to my 12s power systems, I have started using this approach on any power system above a 6s LiPo voltage (or 22v) to eliminate the pitting on battery connectors.

My arming system was complete and ready to mount in the Eastbourne cockpit.